


Bon Noel

by JoeyTaylor



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Busy, Christmas, Gen, Seal of Orichalcos, Shop, ennead, oneesan, orichelcos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-23
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-09-25 16:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 22,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17125016
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeyTaylor/pseuds/JoeyTaylor
Summary: Ennead side story. Christmas is coming and the gang is trying to organise a day out. Shame it's the busiest time of the year for one of them and the approaching storm doesn't even have the grace to wait till after the holiday season...





	1. 5 Days Remaining...

“So we're in agreement? Ice skating at Fountain Plaza tomorrow?” Anzu pressed, looking hopeful as she turned to look at them after class, happy that classes were over for the Christmas break.

“I...”

“Yeap.” Jou agreed, nodding, “As long as I can bring Shizuka. I'm supposed to be hanging around with her. Christmas shopping.”

“What if we meet up earlier so we can come with you?” Honda offered, earning himself a shove from Jou who was fully aware that his friend has a crush on his sister.

“I can't...”

“That's a great idea. I can take Shizuka into the clothes stores so you don't get kicked out again.” Anzu grinned, teasing the boys.

“Guys!” Yugi's frustrated tone finally got through to her friends. “I can't do anything until after Christmas. The shop is going to go mental and I...”

“What about afterwards? The shop closes at seven, right?” Anzu asked, flipping open her phone and searching for the ice rink's website as she thought. “Here we go, there're spaces available at eight thirty. We could meet up at the shop and head over together after it closes.”

Yugi paused to consider it. She was fully aware she was going to be exhausted. Christmas was fast approaching and the next few days were trade critical for the store. They took nearly two months of profits in the space of the week running up to Christmas. However she did not want to disappoint her friends and this was the first year she had had friends who wanted to do anything with her.

“If we close on time, then I should be able to come.” Yugi nodded, thinking and trying not to hope too hard. It would be nice to do something enjoyable at Christmas for a change considering that she normally ended up working alongside her grandfather until they were both exhausted and spent the majority of Christmas day sleeping.

“So we meet up with Jou and Shizuka around three, take them to the shops Jou won't go anywhere near,” Anzu teased Jou, “Possibly grab food and then meet up with Yugi at half seven?”

“Am I welcome?” Amane asked as she leaned on the back of Yugi's chair, causing it to tilt backwards slightly. Yugi squeaked and looked up but relaxed when she realised which Bakura was out and about. “Sorry, I overheard and...”

“Of course.” Yugi smiled at her. “Right guys?”

Her friends nodded, still not quite as comfortable around the Ring barer as they probably should be, but neither Yugi or Amane blamed them for that. They were fully aware that it could be hard to forget that the spirit of the Millennium Ring was not always a particularly nice person and unlike Oneesan she did not always put up an illusion when she emerged from the Ring, so they did not always know when she was out and about.

“I'll book tickets for seven people then.” Anzu tapped the details into her mobile phone and grinned when her text message tone went off not more than thirty seconds later with her confirmation. “Walk home with me?” She asked Yugi.

“I can't, I've got to get home.” Yugi looked apologetic as she stuffed her things into her backpack, “Jou? I hate to ask but can you pick up shopping on the way home?”

“No problem.” Jou grinned at her, trying to help her relax, able to see how stressed she was already. She shoved the purse and the list into his hand and bolted out the door like the Thief Queen was on her heels.

She could hear her friends murmuring behind her but she did not have time to wait. Christmas shopping season was the busiest time of the year for the Kame Game Shop, bigger even than New Years because people would flood into the store in the final week before the big day in order to pick up new releases and last minute presents.

 _'Imoto?'_ Oneesan asked as Yugi pulled on her shoes and dove out the school gates, for once happy that it was cold enough that she could see her breath in front of her as she ran for the shop. When it was this cold outside her usual horde of challengers did not bother to show up giving her a clear path home. _'Are you alright?'_

 _'Fine, fine. I'm just...feel free to read my memories about last Christmas...'_ Yugi sent, not stopping to talk to her, having to pay attention to dart through the crowds of Christmas shoppers that had flooded the business district of Domino City. She was lucky in a way that she was shorter than her friends. She could slip through gaps that they would never manage.

 _'Oh...'_ She felt her twin's wince as memories of last Christmas's shop insanity passed through her mind. _'And you do this annually? Why?'_

Yugi could not help the giggle that slipped out of her mouth as she turned the last corner for home, _'It's a holiday. I don't really get a say about when it happens or how often.'_

She darted in through the back entrance, dumping her backpack in the living room on her way down. Despite her usual distaste for the Domino High Uniform, she did not bother to change as she headed down into the crowded shop and grabbed up the key for the Duel Monsters cabinet.

It was busy. She had expected it to be and more than once Oneesan had to grab control briefly in order to get her out of the way of someone who was not looking where they were going and nearly collided with her.

 _'Thanks Anesan.'_ Yugi sent after the fifth time she narrowly avoided being accidentally struck by a customer's flailing limb or a product that they were swinging around. _'And sorry.'_

 _'It's not your fault but I have to admit I don't like this.'_ Anesan admitted as Yugi tried to restock the shelves around customers. _'It's too crowded in here. If something happened, I couldn't get you or Jii-san out the front door safely.'_

 _'I know.'_ Yugi sighed, noting that they were completely out of a couple of the American board games, and she had no more to fill up with. The last delivery was due the day before Christmas Eve, so for now they were completely sold out and she just knew that was going to cause a headache. _'But this is why we have the back door. Don't worry, it's safe.'_

She could feel her twin sister was not as confident about it as she was but she had worked many Christmas' in the shop. She knew all the escape routes should there be a fire and she just wanted the customers to finish their shopping and go away.

Jou finally joined them a hour and a half before the store closed, looking like he was about ready to tear his hair out. Yugi felt a little guilty for sending him to the food store instead of going herself but Jou was taller and broader than both of the Mutous, meaning he had more of a chance of getting to the counters and higher shelves than she did and there just was no time right now for the usual song and dance.

“Excuse me.” Yugi straightened and turned to the speaker with a smile.

“Hi, can I help?” Yugi knew, just from the look on the older woman's face she knew she was in for an ear full.

The woman drew herself up to her full height, which was only a couple of inches taller than Yugi, and snapped out. “I need a copy of the new vampire thing.”

Since Yugi could think of three 'new vampire things' they had gotten in stock in the last month or so, this was an unhelpful statement. “Do you know the name of it?”

“No, I just know it's a book and it has vampires. It's for my son.” She huffed, “It's from some American company if that helps?”

It did. It narrowed it down to the new White Wolf book. A new expansion had just come out for their Vampire: The Masquerade setting and Yugi flitted across the store happily only to reach the shelf and realise that they were all out. She took a deep breath before she turned back to the customer only to find she had picked up a copy of Werewolf: The Forsaken, which was by the same company but was about werewolf society and was flicking through it.

“Found it.” The woman said happily.

“Umm, that's Werewolf, you wanted Vampire.” Yugi tried to correct her, hoping to steer the woman in the direction she was supposed to be going to head off an angry customer post Christmas who would be demanding a refund as they had 'sold her the wrong item.'

“No, no, see it mentions vampires. This is the one I want.” The woman shook her head and headed for the till where Jii-san was taking payment from another customer. Yugi had learned a long time ago that it was just not worth it to try and redirect a customer like that. She had made up her mind and if Yugi pushed too hard, she would lose a sale.

 _'Want me to try?'_ Oneesan offered as Yugi grimaced at the sight of her grandfather ringing up the customer in question.

 _'No point, Anesan. She's made up her mind. Hopefully her kid will like it. It's still World of Darkness after all...”_ Yugi sighed as she started helping another customer, one who took her recommendation without hesitation. She could feel her dark sister's curiosity about the game the woman had been asking about and made a quiet mental note to pick up a couple of the books and possibly speak to Amane about the half-English girl possibly running a chronicle if Oneesan was interested in the setting. Yugi would have run it herself, but Amane was the much better Dungeon Master and Yugi knew she enjoyed running campaigns. There was a good chance she would jump at the chance to try something new if she had willing players.

“Mutou-san?” Yugi had to hide the wince that her name being called caused as she finished up with the customer she was serving and turned to look at the speaker, expecting to see a Duellist waiting for her. She was surprised to find a well dressed gentleman without a Duel Disk smiling at her instead. “I don't suppose you have any more Shogi sets out the back?”

Yugi paused to think. She had restocked the Shogi before she had headed to school this morning so she did not think so but she could have been wrong, “If you'll give me a couple of minutes I'll go and check.” She promised the customer. When he nodded she darted into the store room, pausing as she got to look at the state it had been reduced to over the course of the day.

When she had left for school this morning the stock had been organised and the room had been relatively neat. It did not look that way now. Jii-san had not had anyone with him for most of the day and that meant he had had to work fast whenever he had come out here for extra stock. Fast was not conducive to tidy. There were empty boxes everywhere and the tidy stacks were no longer tidy.

She carefully picked her way between the maze of containers, grinning slightly when her mind turned it into a game with the box of Shogi boards as the reward. Her epic quest took her right to the back of the room, where an overturned box proclaimed itself to contain the game in question. Yugi grimaced and lifted it up, hoping that there was at least one left, only to be disappointed when it was empty.

 _'Damn...'_ She mentally grimaced as she headed back to the main store.

 _'When are we getting more in?'_ Her older twin asked, thinking quickly, having been rather impressed by the politeness of the customer who had asked.

 _'Jii-san said we have issues with the supplier for Shogi and Go right now and he can't guarantee there's going to be a delivery before Christmas.'_ Yugi admitted, trying to think of a way around the issue as she slipped out of the door.

“Did you find one?” The customer asked her hopefully, his face falling when Yugi shook her head.

“Sorry, we're out of stock and I'm not sure when the next delivery is going to be.” Yugi appologised, bowing slightly.

“But you're the Queen of Games, can't you just phone the manufacturer or something?” At his words Yugi paused and stared at the man, trying to work out if he had seriously just suggested that.

Oneesan slipped into control, her face showing none of her irritation and confusion at his assumption, “My title doesn't work like that. Sorry, but if you'll give me your phone number, I can ring you if we get any in stock.”

“What a waste of time.” He grumbled as he scribbled it down on a piece of paper she provided him. Once he had handed it over, he stalked out, grumbling something about her title being worthless and looking pissed. Oneesan nudged her little sister as she watched him go. _'Imoto?'_

 _'He really just said that, didn't he?'_ Yugi asked, trying to decide if that had really happened or not.

 _'He did.'_ Oneesan agreed, pleased to see the crowds dying down and noticing a couple of Duelists leaning against the wall by the door. The pair waved at her, trying to catch her attention. The spirit of the Puzzle headed over. “Can I help?”

“We're at the top of the Duel Queue.” One of the teens informed her, “But we can see you're busy today so we wanted to check if you were duelling today or not?”

“Also we've brought you a Christmas present.” The other offered her a small, wrapped gift, surprising her.

“Thank you.” Oneesan was honestly surprised and she gave them a small smile as she accepted it. “Let me talk to Jii-san and find out if he can spare me. If not can you wait for...” She checked the clock, “About thirty minutes? Once the store closes I can duel.”

“We can chill for half an hour.” The second one nudged the first who had been about to complain, “Do you want a hot chocolate or something from the cafe down the road? We'll chill there till you guys close.”

“No, but thank you for the offer.” Oneesan shook her head, relived and surprised to find the pair was quite so reasonable.

 _'Told you updating my blog to say I might be a little busy this week due to working the family business and duel times were not fixed until after December 27th was a good idea.'_ Yugi giggled at her over the link as the pair headed off to wait.

 _'Yeah, yeah.'_ The Pharaoh's response was to drop her twin in control, amusing Yugi. She knew the Pharaoh was not entirely comfortable with the small website she maintained in order to keep the Duel Queue organised and keep people informed if something came up that would keep her from duelling. Her Anesan was just worried about her putting too much of her personal life online, but Yugi was fully aware that if she did not, then they would be back to the days when the paparazzi were trying to spy on her.

She was just glad Mokuba was letting her use a small corner of the Kaiba Corp servers for it. She had to use a specific laptop if she wanted to update her website, and if it had any issues she was contractually required to take it back to Mokuba for repairs rather than risk any one else breaking it by accident but the website was allowing her to organise her life in a way she had not been able to after Game On's article challenging Duelists to defeat her a couple of months back.

“Yugi!” She snapped back to attention as her grandfather called her. She looked over to see someone hovering around the glass counter where they displayed her God Monsters and stored their Duel Monsters stock. Darting back around the counter, she smiled brightly at the customer who, she could tell just from their confusion as they looked at the packets, was not a Duellist. “Hiya, can I help?”

“Hi...I'm buying for my daughter for Christmas, she's a fan of yours.” The woman admitted, smiling ruefully at Yugi, “She's finally talked me into letting her compete in tournaments next year and I want to get her something special to take with her.”

Yugi paused to think, “Do you know what deck she prefers?”

“What do you mean?” The mother asked, looking honestly confused.

Yugi pulled her deck out of the holster on her belt and showed the woman her cards, “I'm a Magician Duellist. I focus primarily on Spellcasters.”

“Oh!” Understanding dawned as Yugi put her deck away, “Yes, Mika likes pyro monsters. I think Fire Princess is her favourite monster.”

That alone told Yugi and Oneesan everything they needed to know about Mika's deck. Fire Princess could burn through your opponent's life points whenever you increased your own, so her deck was probably full of ways to increase her life points, like Cure Mermaid, along with things that would protect her life point burners. There were probably a couple of Solar Flare Dragons in there too.

“Does she have a deck box?” Yugi asked as she started putting together a small kit of the things she wished she had had when she had first started competing properly, including a set of three six-sided dice and a pack of Kaiba Corp approved clear deck protectors, the same sort as the ones she used now that allowed her Duel Disk to read her cards through the coating.

“Yeah, but it's damaged. Some bullies tossed it around and...her cards are okay but her deck box is falling apart.” The mother sighed. “Do you have any in?”

Yugi glanced down at the cabinet, fully aware that they did have normal deck boxes in but that they were not the most hardy things. If Mika was being bullied at her school, she would need something a lot tougher. She grinned as she got an idea. “Let me ring you up for this lot then I have an idea.”

 _'What are you up to?'_ Her Anesan asked as she took the money for the items she had put together.

 _'Do you remember that red and gold metal deck box we got given at that tournament a couple of months ago? The one with the swirling patterns?'_ Yugi asked her, hoping the spirit of the Puzzle would see where she was going with this.

 _'The one we don't use because it doesn't fit in a holster?'_ The Pharaoh asked, though it was less a question and more her thinking out loud, _'Mika would probably get more use out of it then we would.'_

 _'And it would match her deck theme.'_ Yugi agreed, happy that her twin was not disagreeing with her plan. She finished taking the woman's money and grinned. “Wait here?”

When the woman nodded, Yugi bolted upstairs and scurried to her bedroom. The attic conversation room, was a tip, as per usual, but she knew exactly where the deck box in question was and she grabbed it off of her bookcase, tripping over the clothes strewn over the floor in her hurry to get back downstairs.

Oneesan took over halfway down to the floor and rolled to her feet, preventing Yugi from hurting herself, before retreating to the Puzzle. _'Careful Imoto. If you hurt yourself, you won't be able to work the shop.'_

 _'I know, sorry.'_ Yugi sighed, as she noted the time and grabbed her Duel Disk on her way out of her room, _'I seriously need to tidy our room.'_

 _'You've been saying that for weeks.'_ The spirit of the Puzzle teased as they headed back down the stairs. _'I'm almost tempted to do it myself at this point.'_

Yugi was not quite sure how to take that. On the one hand she had been procrastinating on doing it. On the other she did not really want Oneesan to have to do it for her. She did not get a chance to respond though as the mother was hovering, waiting for her by the door from the shop. “Mutou-san?”

“Here.” Yugi put the Duel Disk down behind the counter and offered the deck box to the woman, “This is tougher than the plastic ones we have in stock right now and it's one of a kind. I got given it as an entry gift at a tournament but I think your daughter might get better use out of it.”

“Seriously?” The shocked tone made Yugi blush slightly, “You don't have to do this...”

“I want to.” Yugi promised.

“Can you...can you sign it? Please?” The woman asked hopefully, “She's such a big fan and I know you've already been really helpful but...”

Yugi chuckled and pulled a sharpie marker out of the tub of pens by the till, signing the inside of the lid so it wouldn't smudge off before putting the deck protectors and dice inside the deck box. “Here you go.”

“How much for the deck box?” It was a fair question but Yugi shook her head.

“It's on the house for this one. It's one of mine, not stock.” She told the mother who grinned brightly and bowed deeply.

“Thank you Mutou-san.” The woman's tone was grateful, “I'll come back here to buy again and I'll recommend your shop to the other parents in my daughter's duelling club.”

Yugi had to hide the grin at that. New customers meant growth and new money coming into the store. It had not been why she had given away the deck box but the unexpected benefits were great. “I look forward to seeing you again.”

The mother bowed to her and scurried out of the shop, dodging around the two Duelists who were re-entering the shop. Yugi checked the time again, then glanced at her Ojiisan when she saw they still had a couple of customers despite the fact the store had been closed for five minutes.

“Jonouchi, help me shut the shop down?” Sugoroku asked the blonde, who had just come out of the stock room. “I know it's not your day but...”

Jou glanced towards the door, noticed the pair hovering with their Duel Disks on their arm and nodded. “Hey Yuge, kick their butts.”

Yugi laughed and scooped up her Duel Disk, finally able to relax now they were finished for the day. There was still restocking and accounts to do, but the customer side of the Christmas Countdown was done and dusted.

She locked the counter back up and clipped the necklace with the key on back around her neck before heading over to the pair who had been patiently waiting for her. “Hiya, you guys ready?”

“When you are Mutou-san.” The first one grinned, clearly excited for his duel.

“Then let's begin."


	2. 4 Days Remaining

The morning had started badly with her alarm clock being replaced by the sounds of the fire alarm going off and the smell of something burning. That something had turned out to be Jou's attempt at making breakfast for the Mutous before he left for the day.

Things had only gotten worse as the morning had progressed, with six Duellists showing up while she was trying to serve customers and getting irritated when she would not drop everything to duel them despite the announcement on her website and three more customers who had not been able to get games they wanted, or in the right colour delivered before Christmas complaining that she should use her title for extra leverage with the games companies to get them what they wanted.

Which was why Yugi found herself, on her lunch break, staring at her mobile phone with her finger over the call button, seriously considering ringing Kaiba and possibly making his Christmas.

 _'I'm not sure he'd be happy if we called him.'_ Oneesan offered, fully aware of how very irritated her younger twin was and trying not to add to that ire.

 _'Oh I don't know.'_ Yugi huffed as she sat back and took a mouthful of her ramen, still contemplating her phone, _'I'd have thought he'd like to be King of Games. He's forever trying to win the title from us.'_

 _'Win it. Not be given it.'_ The Pharaoh pointed out, noting that her light's mood was improving the more food she ate, _'I'm not sure he would be too happy if you quit and just handed him the title.'_

Yugi did not reply until she had finished eating and when she did it was with a sigh, _'I'm sorry, I shouldn't let it irritate me. I just...'_

 _'I know.'_ It had been the last one who had put her in a foul mood. Oneesan herself had nearly taken over to snap at him when he had asked the girl what the point was in her having a game shop if she was not going to use her title to get extra stock. _'And everyone who comes to the shop normally knows how hard you work to help your customers. We just seem to be having a run of bad luck with visitors today.'_

 _'It's Christmas. It's the same every year.'_ Yugi grumbled. The Spirit of the Puzzle could feel her sister's dislike and disdain through the bond and was surprised by it. Considering Imoto did not normally hold a grudge against anyone, for her to dislike a holiday season meant there was probably more to this than she knew. _'Everyone gets crazy, the store gets manic, families get together to hang out but they run away as fast as they can afterwards and then you don't get to see them again...it's a bit of a joke really.'_

Oneesan paused at that. There was definitely more to this story then just bad customers harassing her twin. _'Imoto? If you want to talk about something...?'_

 _'What's there to talk about? The customers aren't being nice. I mean who needs bad guys when we have customers like the one this morning who called me several rude names when I wouldn't give her someone else's reserved copy of the new structure deck?'_ The girl huffed.

The Pharaoh sighed but did not push it, certain there was more to it but not wanting to push if Imoto really did not want to talk about it, _'You mean the woman you wouldn't let me deal with?'_

 _'You can't Challenge someone for swearing at me.'_ Yugi's tone was both amused and weary as she let out a quiet laugh, _'No matter how tempting it is.'_

Her Anesan considered it a win that she had gotten a chuckle from her twin though and she could feel her mood had lifted. _'Not even a little Challenge?'_

 _'No!'_ Yugi's giggle was louder this time. _'It's time consuming.'_

 _'Fine.'_ Yugi could feel Anesan's irritated resignation was entirely fake and she was teasing her, which made her smile. It was nice that her twin felt comfortable enough to tease. She was not a very social person so Yugi considered anything like that a sign that they were good friends.

She slipped her phone back into her pocket and downed the broth from her ramen before standing up. She had ice skating to look forward to tonight and she was not going to let the bad mood of her customers wreck her excitement.

 _'Are you going to try to skate?'_ Yugi tried to recentre herself by asking. She could feel her dark twin thinking at that.

 _'I don't know if I'd be any good at it.'_ Anesan sounded hesitant as Yugi dumped her bowl in the sink and headed for the stairs down to the shop.

 _'Neither do I.'_ Yugi reassured her, aware the spirit of the Puzzle did not like looking silly in front of anyone. Not even her. _'But it'll be something new to experience, right?'_

 _'Right...I guess I can give it a go.'_ She still sounded a little nervous about it but Yugi could sense that she felt a little better about not knowing how to ice skate since her sister did not either. _'You've never been?'_

 _'Not since I was five.'_ Yugi paused, hesitating slightly to admit something, then decided there was no point hiding it when Anesan would pick it up across the bond anyway, _'It's one of the only things I remember doing with my parents.'_

She felt her older twin mentally 'sit up' at that. She did not talk about her parents often. She did not remember them very well. She did not share any more though. She did not like talking about it and Jii-san was her family anyway. He had raised her and that was all that mattered. She would do her best to help him in whatever way he needed and today that meant stepping back into the mayhem that was the shop.

It was no less manic as she worked her way over to the Duel Monsters counter and found herself under a constant barrage of customers. She did not mind too much, with one of their part timers working the floor, she could concentrate on making sure people got exactly what they wanted for their decks, or the decks of friends and family. Her usual run of luck seemed to be holding true as well, meaning those who bought booster packs from her were getting good cards. She just hoped that held true for the ones who bought them as presents.

“Hey!” Yugi caught a customer reaching into her counter to try and fish something out and slammed the door shut, causing them to have to recoil quickly. “If you want something you'll need to wait your turn.”

“I just wanted to look at the God Monsters.” The customer complained, rubbing his hand despite the fact she knew full damn well that she had not touched him with the door.

“Looking does not involve touching.” Yugi told him firmly, “You can see them in the case like everyone else.”

“How much for the Winged Dragon of Ra?” The irritated customer demanded.

“He's not for sale.” Yugi's firm tone went unheeded.

“Don't be ridiculous.” The man scowled, getting angry, “It's in your sales cabinet, which means it's for sale.”

“He's on display because I don't use him regularly.” She could feel her older twin ready to take over if she needed her, “He's not for sale. There's no price on the God Monsters and never will be. They're mine.”

“If they're in the shop, they're for sale.” The man snapped at her.

“Please don't snap at me sir.” She could feel Oneesan step into the corridor between their minds, ready to take over if she needed her to at her very flat, level tone that was her best attempt at maintaining good customer service while being seriously done with the customer she was serving. “I have already told you that the God Monsters are not and never will be for sale. Is there something else I can help you with today?”

“Five 'Nightmare Circus' booster packs and a pack of the clear deck protectors.” The guy huffed. Yugi nodded and went to grab them out of the case. As she leaned into to the cabinet to reach the front where the last of the boosters in question were, she heard one of the other customers go, “I wouldn't...”

Suddenly she felt like she was being yanked backwards and she found herself tumbling into the corridor between her Soul Room and Anesan's. Anger flooded the bond as she managed to roll to her feet and reached out to her sister, wondering why she had suddenly switched them. _‘Anesan?’_

 _'Stay there a moment, Imoto.'_ Anesan's tone was sharp but Yugi could feel that the anger was not aimed at her. She reached out her senses, allowing her to watch through her sister's eyes and listen to what was happening.

The Spirit of the Puzzle felt her synch up with her but did not say a word as she accepted the hand to her feet from her rather worried looking grandfather.

“Are you okay, Yugi?” He asked, concerned as he looked her over.

“I'm fine.” She told him with a shrug, trying to hide the sharp pain between her shoulder blades as she turned to look at the collapsed, partly smashed glass case. They had been lucky. If she had not been watching, she would not been able to react fast enough and she would not have been mostly out of the case when the customer who had been trying to steal from the cabinet before had lunged across it. His weight had jostled the loose panel that they had been going to fix after Christmas. The loose panel had slipped out of place and hit the shelf below, which had caused a cascade effect that had sent the shelves and the stock on them tumbling.

She had been far enough out avoid the worst of the breaking glass but she would need to check her back at some point because she was pretty sure a piece that had fallen down the back and gotten stuck had scratched her on her way out of the case.

At her reassurance Jii-san nodded and turned on the man who had caused the cabinet to collapse, looking angrier than Oneesan had ever seen him. The customer in question suddenly looked nervous. Between the angry customers and the glower Jii-san was giving him, he nervously shifted from foot to foot as the elderly man coldly stated, “Get out and don't come back. You're banned from my shop.”

“But...”

“You heard him. Out.” One of the other customers shoved the man towards the door.

Oneesan watched the man go, then fished out the God Monsters from the mess, just about managing to avoid cutting her hand on the broken glass as Jii-san asked, “Yugi? Can you handle this while I try and clear the crowds. Then we'll shut until we're sure we've got all the glass up.”

“No problem, Jii-san.” The Pharaoh promised her grandfather, who ruffled her hair and quickly flipped the 'Open' sign to 'Closed' before making his way to the till.

She slipped the God cards into her deck holster and started picking up the stock as Jii-san cleared out the remaining customers. Any that helped her while they were waiting, she gave a booster pack to at her Imoto's suggestion and it was not long before the front door was locked and they could focus on sorting out the mess.

“We're going to have to stay open a little later.” Oneesan felt Imoto's heart sink at their grandfather's words as he helped them sweep up the glass. “We can't lose a couple of hours of trade and if we stay open till nine we'll hit the post-work trade as well.”

“Jii-san...” Oneesan started, not too worried about the loss of ice skating for herself but fully aware Imoto had been looking forward to it.

 _'Don't, Anesan, I'll just text the others...they can go without me.'_ Yugi cut her older sister off from protesting on her behalf. The Spirit of the Puzzle could feel that she did not want to say it. In fact she was mentally kicking herself.

 _'Are you sure, Imoto?'_ The Pharaoh asked softly.

 _'The shop comes first. It has to.'_ Yugi sighed, her shoulders sinking as resignation started up, _'Jii-san gave up too much for me for me to bow out when he needs me.'_

 _'He would understand.'_ Oneesan tried, _'You made plans.'_

 _'It's fine, I'll go another time. We can't lose the profits. We need the money.'_ Her twin sister was right and the Pharaoh knew it. They did need the money. They always needed the money. The shop took a modest profit, just enough to cover their bills and give them a small pot of spending money. Ojiisan had mentioned that January and February were quiet months, so the Christmas rush covered those months. They would need to replace the cabinet too, which was more expense they could ill afford.

Oneesan let out a soft sigh and smiled at her grandfather, who had turned to look at her when she had called his name, “Let me sweep up? I don't want you to hurt your back.”

He nodded and left them to it while he rearranged the stock on the shelves behind the till to ensure the Duel Monsters stock was not where anyone could just grab it. Yugi fired off a quick text message to her friends to apologise that here had been an issue in the shop, they would have to be open late and to go ice skating without her and then started sweeping up the scattered glass.

It was probably a good thing that the cabinet had finally broken. It was older than she was and it had been unsafe for a while. They had been putting replacing it off and off until it was absolutely necessary and now it was.

The broken glass from the floor went into a cardboard box and was joined by several more pieces as Yugi tried to fish the scattered stock out of the shelving unit without cutting herself.

She was midway through when there was a knock on the door and Yugi turned to look, only to see a customer knocking on it with a rather irritated look on their face. “I'm sorry we're closed.”

“You can't be closed. You're never closed at this time!” The customer objected, his voice a little muffled through the glass. When Yugi pointed to the cabinet she was trying to recover stock from, he shrugged, “I can just walk around it. I only need one item.”

“We'll be open again in an hour or ow!” Yugi withdrew her hand quickly and examined it, grimacing as she realised the sharp pain that had made her yelp had been from her cutting her hand on a piece of glass. Jii-san rushed over and examined it, ignoring the now worried looking customer entirely in his hurry.

“Go upstairs and wash it.” He ordered as he examined the small gash across the back of her hand.

“But...” Yugi stopped as she saw how worried he was. “Yes, Jii-san.”

She got to her feet and headed for the stairs up to the flat, feeling frustrated. The longer they were closed, the longer they would need to be open tonight. She kept having to remind herself that she did not mind. Everything that came in from the shop either went straight back in or paid things like their rent and food bills. She could not mind and spend what came in. It was not fair.

Still, she hurt, she was disappointed and she knew she was being unreasonable. As she headed into the bathroom, the first thing she did was use an antiseptic wipe on her hand and check the cut, relaxing when she saw it was not very large, just bleeding a lot. She fished out a plaster and stuck it over the small gash, then turned so her back was shown in the mirror and shifted her hair aside to see how bad her shoulders looked.

She could see it had bled a bit but she did not get a chance to see more before she heard her name being called. Yugi's eyes widened at the sound of Jii-san's voice and quickly dropped her hair. Not quickly enough, however, as he turned the corner in time to see the injury.

“Mutou Yugi, let me see.” She did not resist. Not when he had 'full named' her. She moved her hair aside to let him examine the cut between her shoulders.

“Your friends are downstairs. They came by to check on us.” Her grandfather sighed as he carefully examined the cut, “You told me you weren't hurt.”

Yugi pouted and dragged Anesan into control, refusing to get lectured for something her older twin had said.

“Technically I said I was fine.” The Pharaoh reiterated.

“Yugi no Oneesan, that's not what fine means and you know it.” Jii-san scolded her. Oneesan blinked at him, realising technically he had just 'full named' her and that meant she was in trouble. She had learned that from watching Imoto. If Jii-san called them and he just used her given name it was fine, but the few times he had called “Mutou Yugi!” she had been able to feel the dread rising in her Imoto and they had normally been in for a scolding. “I'm going to get Anzu up.”

“Anzu's here?” Oneesan asked, surprised.

“Your friends came to check on us.” Jii-san nodded, “Jou and Honda are moving the broken cabinet, Bakura's keeping the customers by the doors from rioting and Shizuka's sorting the boosters by type for me so I could check on you.”

Oneesan shook her head, amused, at that and she could feel Imoto was just as surprised. Their friends were awesome. Even with everything they had been through together, sometimes they forgot that a text like the one they had sent would cause the whole gang to pile in to make sure the Mutous were okay.

“Stay here, don't you dare hide that from her.” Jii-san warned her as he headed down the corridor.

 _'Our friends are the best. I didn't mean to ruin their day though.'_ Her younger twin sounded a little worried as they waited.

 _'You probably didn't, they've still got time for shopping and they can get to skating.'_ The Pharaoh pointed out. _'Now get back out here. I've been told off enough for today.'_

Yugi giggled as she retook control. 'I _'m sorry but you're the one who lied to Jii-san, you're the one who deserved the lecture.'_

The Pharaoh did not respond to that but Yugi did not have a chance to poke her before Anzu hurried in and started fussing at her.

“Mutou Yugi, what have you done to yourself?” Anzu scolded her, making Yugi giggle a little at the 'mother' tone in her voice.

“Not my fault.” She defended herself, wincing a little at the sting of the cleansing wipe between her shoulder blades, “The cabinet kinda fell on me.”

“At least it's not as bad as we thought it might be.” Anzu sighed as she worked, “With the weirdness that follows you around we were worried you guys had been attacked or something.”

“Sorry.” Yugi apologised, shuffling awkwardly from foot to foot, “I should have given you more info. I've ruined your day.”

“Stop moving. You haven't ruined the day. It's fine. It means we're here to help. The sooner everything's sorted, the sooner you can reopen the shop.” Anzu paused as Yugi froze at her angry tone, not moving an inch, “Yugi? You okay?”

“J...just sore.” Her friend's tone shook slightly which confused Anzu. She had seen Yugi go through much worse then this and keep herself together. This was not even the first thief the girl had dealt with in the time Anzu had known her.

“I'll be done in a minute, it's a little long but it's not deep, so you'll be fine.” Anzu promised, finishing cleaning the cut before putting a couple of plasters on it. “You sure you're okay?”

“I'm fine. Fine.” Yugi turned around quickly and dropped her hair so it covered her back again, “Thank you.”

“What're friends for?” Anzu grinned at her, pleased to see it helped her friend relax. “Now come and help organise the guys.”

As Yugi nodded and scurried downstairs, Anzu frowned, wondering what was bothering the Puzzle barer. Something was wrong. Anzu knew Yugi well enough to know that. Yugi was a lot stronger than this. It took a lot more than a thief and a broken cabinet to get to her but she had been off kilter for a couple of weeks and this was just the icing on the cake.

Besides. Yugi only ever said she was 'fine' when she was hiding something. Anzu did not know whether it was that she was in pain or whether it was something more, but it bothered her how easily both Yugi and Oneesan could just tell them there was nothing wrong when clearly there was.

She headed downstairs, planning to talk to Ojiisan, only to find that he was busy organising Jou and Honda as they tried to move the broken glass case into the store room so no one could hurt themselves. While she waited, she helped Shizuka sort the booster packs into their correct boxes, ready to go on the shelves and watched Yugi sweep the floor where the cabinet had been.

She seemed okay. She was moving freely and easily so she was not hurt. That meant whatever was bothering her was mental, not physical.

Anzu paused to consider that she was thinking about that. This time last year she would not really have cared. Yugi had been someone she had stuck up for, but she had not truly been a proper friend. In fact Anzu had taken horrible advantage of the girl's good nature and allowed her to help her find a dance school in Domino. She still felt bad for it now occasionally but she did try to make up for it by being there when Yugi needed her now.

After everything she and the others had been through together she considered them more like family than just friends. It was hard to consider someone a friend when they had saved your life multiple times. Yugi was more like a sister to her and she found herself concerned that the other girl, who normally clung to Anzu, Jou and Honda like they were a lifeline, was standing back and looking a little nervous.

Thinking back she had been looking uncomfortable for a few weeks, ever since she had been reminded Christmas was coming up fast. The question was, what was so different about Christmas time that it turned their friend from her usual, bouncy self, into this quiet, unhappy mouse?

She doubted it was the increased customer load. There were two things her friend thrived in and that was gaming and the shop. Yugi loved the shop normally. It was always good to see her face light up when she talked about the new game that had come in or the newest deals the shop had managed to make that would increase their profits.

It had to be Christmas, which made no sense. Christmas was a time for friends and family to spend together and...

Anzu's eye widened as it hit her. Family.

None of them really talked much about their families. It was deliberate. They knew Jou's birth family weren't great. Shizuka was the only one he liked and the rest he ignored in favour of the Mutous who had taken him in. They did not talk about their own families so it did not seem like they were gloating about how great they had it.

However Anzu had never seen Yugi's parents. Jou probably knew more, but all Anzu knew was that her friend was an only child who lived with her grandfather. It was not that unusual for a child to be left with a relative while their parents had to work across the country, so Anzu wondered if her parents could not make it home for Christmas before the big day and that was what was bothering Yugi.

She edged over to Ojiisan once the cabinet was safely off of the shop floor and Yugi was distracted sweeping the floor where it had been, getting the last of the glass up, “Ojiisan? Can I talk to you?”

The elderly archaeologist, who treated them all like family, paused and looked at her. “You okay?”

“Yeah I just...when are Yugi's parents coming home for Christmas? Should we avoid the shop to give you guys more room or something?” Anzu asked him. His eyes widened briefly, then his shoulders sank and he glanced towards Yugi. He let out a relieved sigh when he saw she was distracted and nodded towards the stairwell to the flat.

Anzu followed him upstairs, away from the shop, and once they reached the kitchen Ojiisan turned to her. “Yugi never told you about her parents?”

Anzu shook her head, suddenly worried. “No?”

Sugoroku sighed. “Yugi's parents are no longer with us. They haven't been since Yugi was five years old.”

The girl he was speaking to let out a soft, surprised noise and sat on the kitchen stool, watching him carefully, suddenly understanding why Yugi would have gone quiet when people had started talking about Christmas plans with their families. “What happened?”

“They were staying with me over Christmas to help me with the annual rush and went out for a drive after the store closed to pick up some groceries...” Ojiisan sighed, “Luckily for me Yugi was with me in the store room, organising things, or I'd have lost them all when the semi-truck hit their car.”

“I'm sorry...Yugi never told me...” Anzu was not quite sure what to say to that. It explained Yugi's recent behaviour completely. She was not just irritated that her parents had to work through Christmas. She was upset because this time of year was when her world had been turned upside down.

“She wouldn't. She doesn't remember her parents well and the last time she saw her mother, she'd been scolded for something...I don't remember what. It's been a very long time.” He huffed slightly, “I try not to let her think about it too much but this time of year...promise me you won't pressure her about this?”

“I promise.” Anzu nodded, decided there and then that they were going to do something to help lift Yugi's mood. “But since you have to stay open late today, can we borrow her Christmas Eve? After the store closes?”

Ojiisan's own mood took an upswing at the scheming look on Anzu's face, realising she was formulating a plan to make Yugi smile, “Sure, but let me know how I can help whatever you're planning?”

“Oh don't worry, I will.”


	3. 3 Days Remaining

“Jou. No.” Yugi giggled as she herded him away from the oven. “I'm making breakfast today. I like having eardums.”

Jou would have pouted but considering his best friend's mood when he had gotten back from ice skating last night, he was just happy to see her smiling. “Fine, I'll go help Ojiisan open up.”

Yugi nodded, moving aside to let him past while she made breakfast. He was not complaining. While he was better than he had been when he had first moved in, better even than Jii-san, who tended to rely on takeaway too often, she was still the better cook.

Last night had been exhausting. They had planned to only be open for an extra couple of hours but it had been half past ten before they had finally managed to get the doors locked behind the last customer. It had been another hour before the stock had been replenished, though by the time that had been done Jou had been back with them and able to help her with the heavy lifting.

She was actually impressed he was awake. He had been tired and quiet when he had returned to the store which was not unusual when he had to send Shizuka back to her mother, and they had not gotten to bed until gone midnight. Normally, under those circumstances, he would not be up until late into the morning. The fact that he had been up before her and she was always up at half past six, was both impressive and worrying.

She was kind of glad for it. It meant they could get the store set up early, so she had a little time to work on her deck while she was actually awake. Tomorrow she was meant to be in an exhibition match against Kaiba to show off the new Kaiba Corp holograms that would be released in the Christmas Day update and she wanted to ensure she was ready for him. Mokuba had arranged it with her in exchange for a brand new, version 2.0, Duel Disk for both herself and Jou. She was owed a new one by Kaiba anyway after the Anubis incident. Yugi was half convinced it was Mokuba's version of a Christmas present to his brother and that he was silently hoping she would lose, but the thought amused her, rather than upset her and she was looking forward to seeing Jou's face when he found the new Duel Disk under the tree on Christmas morning. She was fully aware he could not could afford it right now so she hoped that he was happy with the gift.

Jii-san had already agreed that was a valid reason for her not being in the shop and gotten her shift covered, so she was looking forward to the distraction from the mad hordes. She just needed to do some adjustments today and get through the shift without injuring herself again.

Taking the completed breakfasts downstairs was a balancing act that nearly ended up with all three meals over the floor when she tripped on the vacuum cleaner cord. One of Jou's arm slipped under the tray, preventing the food from going everywhere, the other wrapped around her waist, steadying her. “Well hello there.”

“Hi.” Yugi giggled, blushing in her embarrassment as he set the tray down.

He spun her around and dipped her, making her squeak and causing her blush to deepen.

“Good morning Yugi.” Jii-san's voice made the pair straighten up and grin at each other. “Ah, thank you.” He stole his plate from the tray and slid it onto the counter to eat, “Do I lose both of you tomorrow? Or just you, Yugi?”

“Just me.” Yugi replied easily as she tucked into her breakfast, “And only for the afternoon, Honda's going with me, so you can have Jou.”

“Still miffed I'm gonna miss the Duel.” Jou half-jokingly grumbled through a mouthful of omelette, “You better kick his butt, Yuge.”

“Of course she will.”Jii-san chuckled, “We draw too much extra profit from her title to lose.”

“Jii-san!” Yugi protested, then paused as he winked at her, realising he was teasing her.

“I'm sorry I can't give you today to prepare.” The elderly archaeologist apologised as Yugi finished her food and did one last sweep of the shop, dressing the products so they were all at the front of the shelf and easy to reach.

“It's fine.” She shrugged as she settled down at the till, “I have half an hour now and I'll just work on my deck to...” She trailed off as her hand rested on her deck holster.

Power flooded through her as she pulled the stack of cards out and she checked the top three cards. She smiled ruefully as she beheld the God Monsters. She had forgotten that Anesan had put them into their deck for safety after the cabinet had been destroyed. The deck always felt different when they were within it.

It was probably for the best that she adjusted the deck while carrying them. She would need to take them with her tomorrow anyway and the balance of the deck was always strange while using them. They required fast summoning tactics if she wanted to get them out efficiently.

She could not help but wonder over how natural they felt in her hand as her mind started turning over what she would need to take out and what needed to be added in to the deck. Before the Anubis incident, the three divine monsters had felt overwhelming to her. Now their power felt like an extension of hers and she could relax a little more while holding them.

“Yuge?” Jou asked as he watched her consider the cards in her hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Yugi showed him her hand and watched understanding hit him. “I'm just thinking about what to do with them.”

Her best friend nodded and watched as she shuffled them into her deck. He worried when Yugi handled the Gods. The first and last time he had seen her summon them, she had done so out of a fit of justified fury. Neither Mutou twin had used them since Oneesan had then used them to defeat the prick who had driven Yugi to breaking point. Despite the fact that the Pharaoh and the Thief Queen had been planning their next move since, the Gods had mostly lived in the display cabinet, far away from Yugi and her deck.

The fury of the light had been a terrifying thing to behold. Jou had never seen Yugi angry before and he sincerely hoped never to have to again. He just wondered what went through her mind when she held the instruments of her divine outburst.

“I'm okay, Jou, I promise.” Yugi sighed, pretty sure she knew what he was thinking. Her mind often travelled back to the last time she had had the Gods Monsters in her deck. “I'm not going to meltdown again.”

“Promise?” Her best friend asked her, watching carefully. She had not duelled against Kaiba since the incident and during their planning session yesterday Anzu had warned them that she was not in a good place right now. He did not know if she would be okay in her duel.

“I promise.” Yugi put her hand on his arm, reassuring him. If anything she needed tomorrow. The duel was going to take her mind off of everything that was going on in both her life and the shop, “You don't have to worry about me.”

“If you need me...” Jou trailed off with a sigh.

“I know.” She hugged her best friend briefly before pulling away. “You're always there when I need you.”

“You want me there tomorrow?” He asked her as she shuffled the cards and slipped the deck back into the holster on her belt.

“Honda'll be with me. You're needed here. Especially if that thief comes back.” She shook her head as Ojiisan flipped the door sign to 'Open' and unlocked the door. Jou grumbled something under his breath as he turned away to start helping customers, “Jou?”

“Yeah Yuge?” He half turned to look at her, curiosity on his features.

“You know I'll always want you at my side, right?” She asked, looking worried, like she thought she had upset him.

“Of course. We're partners, right?” Jou's answering grin helped her relax as the first customers piled through the door.

He continued to watch her over the course of the day, his mind occasionally flickering back to the meeting that had occurred last night. Yugi's friends were not daft. They had spent enough time around her to know that something was bothering her. Jou had just assumed she was still getting over the Anubis incident. It had only been a month after all and there had been a lot of crap that had happened.

Anzu, however, had filled them in on a fact that they had not known before and had suddenly connected a lot of dots for him. The entire time he had been living with the Mutous, almost eight whole months now, he had not seen Yugi's parents. He had seen pictures of them on the walls, though none in which their daughter was more than four or five, but he had never met them in person and the Mutous had never spoken of them.

Now he knew why. He hated his drunkard of a father, his mother despised him despite the fact he had brought Shizuka the money she had needed for the operation for her eyes, but they were alive. They might be horrible people, but they had not been ripped away from him suddenly like Yugi's parents had.

They had spent hours planning for Christmas Eve's little celebration to lift her spirits and help her enjoy herself and he was pretty sure it was going to work, but he was going to be worried about her up until then. Especially when she was acting as oddly as she was.

Still he watched her light up as she served customer after customer, giving up her space at the till to her grandfather so she could flit around the store. She was a bright light on what was a surprisingly gloomy day outside and her positivity sent many a customer away with a huge grin. He loved that about her. Her positivity and excitement radiated throughout the building, bringing in customers and sending out joy.

“Jou!” Yugi's delighted chuckle as she tried to reach the top shelf and failed made him grin, “Come and help me.”

He paused for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her tightly and lifted her up so she could reach. She yelped and laughed as she grabbed the game she was trying to get to, then let out a delighted squeak as he spun her around and set her back down. “There you go, Yuge.”

She grinned brightly at him and darted away to give the game to the lady at the counter. Jou watched her go, a silly, soft smile on his face.

“Oi,” He jumped a mile as a woman with a rather large stack of games poked him in the arm, “Stop watching your girlfriend and give me a hand to the car.”

“Yugi's not...” Jou started to protest but the customer did not listen to him, instead shoving the pile of games into his arms. The teenager glanced at the head of the household, checking the woman had paid and when Ojiisan nodded he carried the games out.

The car was not outside the shop as he had expected. Instead he had to follow her down to the nearby care park, which he was not too happy about and wait until the games were loaded into the car before she would let him leave. She did give him a small tip in exchange but it was not worth the twenty minute walk to the car park, the five minute wait for her to decide exactly how she wanted the games loaded up and the, what would be, another twenty minute walk back.

He was about halfway home when he realised that he was being followed. There was a man behind him who had emerged from the garage just behind him and had taken the same turns he had. He would have considered it a coincidence but when he stopped and popped into a cafe, grabbing some hot drinks for his family, the man was waiting just down the road to continue tailing him.

Jou's eyes narrowed and he darted down the nearest alley, being careful not to spill the two coffees and the hot chocolate he was carrying, and grimaced as he realised he had cornered himself in a dead end. He turned to face the stalker, putting the drinks down on the nearest bin lid.

“So,” Jou asked, balling his hands into fists, “What do you want?”

“I'm impressed, I wasn't expecting you to notice me.” The brown haired, Australian sounding teenager looked highly amused as he answered him in English. “I've been sent by my boss to invite you to a meeting.”

Jou paused, then huffed, “I'm not interested in gangs. So you can tell your boss thanks but no thanks.”

“Hey,” The guy shrugged, his blue eyes amused more than anything, “I told him I didn't think you'd want in. He thought you might be interested in getting a little help protecting your girl.”

The blonde straightened, brown eyes narrowing at the implied threat to Yugi.”Who are you?”

“My name's Valon.” The brunette informed him with a pleased smile, pretty sure he had Jonouchi's interest now. “My boss, Dartz, is the one who wants to talk to you.”

“Why me?” Jou did not back down, wondering how these goons knew him.

“Because you're brave enough to fight magic users without any magic of your own and my boss respects that.” The guy, who was dressed in biker gear, shrugged, “Come and have a chat with him, what could it hurt? Unless you don't want to be able to protect your girl from the asshole we're keeping tabs on?”

He hesitated for a moment. If Yugi was in danger, then he should go with Valon but at the same time it screamed trap. Loudly. It was just too convenient for this guy to turn up out of nowhere with information. Knowing his luck Valon's boss was the prick after Yugi. Plus if he went with Valon and he was attacked with magic, he would not be able to defend himself without his Duel Disk.

If he got his ass kicked and disappeared, Yugi would never know what happened to him. He could not just disappear on his best friend. Not now. Not ever.

“I appreciate the offer and I wanted to defend Yugi from the prick you're tailing, but tell your boss I can't leave right now. If he wants to talk, he can phone me or come to me.” Jou shook his head. “I'm not going anywhere without more info.”

“We're on your side, mate, but I get it.” Valon huffed and tossed him a green gem pendant. “Here. Keep a hold of this till the boss calls you, it'll shield you from Shadow magic. Best I can do for now.”

Jou caught it and examined it carefully. The green gem was set into a silver setting and glowed lightly. He could feel the dark energy in the crystal that reached out to his own magic and boosted his senses, allowing him to feel the power in the area. His eyes widened as he felt the same darkness contained within Valon and realised the implications. If he could sense magic, he would be able to tell if anyone was going to attack them and if the pendant would protect him from Shadow magic, then Bakura could not sneak up on him.

“After Christmas good for a meeting?” Valon asked him with a smug smile as, despite the fact it was probably a bad idea, Jou put the necklace on and hid the glowing pendant underneath his t-shirt, “I don't think they'll move before then.”

“After Christmas sounds good but you got a phone?” Jou asked. When Valon handed his over, Jou put his number into it. “One question though, if you think Yuge's gunna be attacked, why wouldn't you talk to her?”

“The git won't make their move if she's aware of them. If they don't try, we can't stop them.” The biker seemed amused that he would ask. Jou scowled but nodded, still mostly convinced that Valon was probably a bad guy but not hesitating to take advantage of the gift he had handed him.

“Can I have a name?” Jou demanded as he handed his own phone to Valon. “So I know who I'm looking out for?”

“Talk to the boss. He's got the info.” The biker shrugged as he tapped a couple of numbers into the other teen's phone and tossed it back to him.

“This guy bothering you Jou?” Both Jou and Valon jumped at the sound of Honda's voice as the brunette entered the alleyway and stalked towards them.

“Nah, just offering him a chance at something special. Have a good Christmas.” Valon smirked and bowed mockingly to Honda and headed out.

“The hell was that about?” Honda demanded as Jou grimaced and scooped up the tray of now warm drinks, “Yugi sent me a message that you might be in trouble and I find you chatting with some foreign biker?”

“Lay off, the guy was stalking me.” The blonde snapped back, “You want me to walk some guy who might be a threat back to the shop?”

“Threat?” Honda's question allowed Jou to explain, wanting his friend's input on the whole thing.

“Can I see?” Honda asked, holding out his hand afterwards.

“The gem thingy?” Jou asked, fishing it out from under his shirt, confused as to why Honda would want to see it.

“So that thing can block Shadows?” Honda's eyes scanned the pendant.

“Supposedly.” His friend slipped it off and dropped it into Honda's hand. The moment Honda touched it, his eyes widened. “Lets you sense magic in others too.”

“Bloody hell.” Honda breathed as he felt the Shadows and fire flowing through his friend. “Think this is what Yugi and the Pharaoh sense all the time?”

“Maybe?” Jou shrugged, trying to take it back only for Honda to pull back, “Honda?”

“Jonouchi, I'm going to say this as your friend. You can't wear this.” Honda shook his head as he stepped backwards. “This blocks Shadow magic. You HAVE Shadow magic. It'll mess with you.”

The Duellist paused to consider that. He was fully aware that his near death in the Shadows during Battle City had messed with him a little. He felt his cards reacting a lot more strongly and he was always hyper aware of anything Bakura or Oneesan were up to. Since his first Shadow Game had given him a little awareness of the Shadows, he had not been surprised but he had not thought that nearly dying would have made that much of a difference.

“Keep it for me then?” He trusted Honda to have his back and it was probably a bad idea to wear anything that could mess with Shadows until he had gotten Oneesan to look at it anyway. His friend nodded and slipped the pendant on as Jou paused, “Wait, Yuge sent you to look for me?”

“You've been gone almost an hour and a half, she got worried.” Honda shrugged as he tucked the necklace under his shirt and herded Jou towards the shop. He rolled his eyes at the silly grin that produced on the Duellist's face. “Jou...you gotta talk to her.”

“About what? I don't know what you're talking about.” Jou huffed at him.

Honda did not get to do more than huff as they entered the shop and got swarmed by customers. He moved over to the counter to avoid the worst of the crush, only to bump, hard, into something that felt like light, Shadows and an odd mix of lightning, fire and earth. It squeaked and fell over.

“Yugi?” Honda yelped, offering her a hand to her feet, his eyes wide. If what he had sensed had been Yugi's power, he was almost terrified of what Oneesan's magic felt like. If the blaze of light and Shadows really was Yugi, rather than Oneesan, it was clear that the power unleashed during her furious assault on Anubis was only a portion of her full power.

The thought both terrified and relieved him. On the one hand he was now fully aware that it had not been a one off thing. If Yugi lost her temper like that again or needed to in self defence, she could totally magically nuke a guy and that was scary. On the other hand having that much magic meant that while she was physically puny, she could defend herself in other ways which was good.

“Honda? You okay?” Yugi asked, looking worried, “Did you and Jou get in a fight?”

“No, no...we just need to talk to you later.” He shrugged. Immediately Yugi's face dropped and she glanced between him and Jou, looking concerned. “Nothing happened, trust me.” He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to ignore how overwhelming her magic felt as he felt her relax under his touch.

“If you're okay, can you grab some of the chess sets from the back? The special edition Duel Monster ones?” She nodded, trusting him to tell her the truth. When he nodded, she went back to serving the customers who wanted to pay.

Jou, meanwhile, was trying to decide whether he should tell Yugi and Oneesan about the warning Valon had given him. He was pretty damn certain that it would ruin their Christmas and they would want to meet with the biker. However he was also aware that they needed to know if there was someone after them. He was not quite certain what to do.

The last few asses had come scarily close to killing her and as scared as she was about losing them, she had not worked out that they were just as afraid of her being the one who vanished. He did not want Yugi to die. He liked her far too much for that. Honda was probably right, they needed to tell her and show her the pendant.

In hindsight he probably should have gone with Valon and found out who was trying to kill her this time, but he had wanted to upset her by disappearing. The frustration was eating at him. He had been playing it cautiously because of her past with Christmas and now he had to see if he had made the right choice.

If he had not, he was going to be kicking himself for the next month.

“Jonouchi Katsuya.” He straightened up at Ojiisan's sharp tone and turned to look at the elderly gamer who had sidled up to him through the crowds of shoppers. “Anzu rang, something about Christmas Eve?”

Jou face palmed, suddenly remembering he was supposed to ring Anzu with the shop's opening hours on Christmas Eve so she could prepare their surprise for Yugi.

“I'll ring her now.”

 


	4. 2.5 Days Remaining

The sun had not yet risen over Domino City but Yugi was already awake.

She had not slept well. The news that someone was once again after her had drawn in nightmares that had made sleep almost impossible. She supposed she should not be surprised. If someone else was going to attack them, it made sense that it was over Christmas.

She hated this time of year. She had for as long as she could remember. Nothing good ever happened during the winter holidays. She was trying to make the most of this year for her twin's sake, it was her first Christmas after all, but this new information had entirely confirmed Yugi's thoughts that Christmas sucked and the sooner it was over the better.

Today's Duel was something that both her and Anesan could look forward to though. Kaiba was always a challenging opponent. She and the spirit of the Puzzle had spent the last couple of hours working on her deck, getting it exactly how they wanted it for this afternoon, balancing out the need for speed summoning by adding back in things like the Royal Knights, and her Magician base by keeping in things like their Sorcerer of Dark Magic, who Yugi had yet to see in play, and adding in a Sage's Stone to allow her to summon the Dark Magician more easily once she had the Dark Magician Girl on the field.

She was kind of looking forward to seeing them again. She had not been able to use holograms in her duels since the Anubis incident when the jerk had destroyed hers and Kaiba's Duel Disks to prevent them summoning against him when he had grown desperate. She missed it greatly. Especially considering the last time she had summoned the pair of Magicians who had seen her through some amazingly tough times.

Mana, the Dark Magician Girl, had been bright and friendly, if a little uncertain, while Mahad, the Dark Magician, had been quiet but had been at her back the entire time. Something that had been a huge relief after the absolute horror that had been that whole fiasco.

Between nightmares caused by the events of Battle City and those invoked by Anubis's Shadow Games, Yugi was lucky if she got any sleep at all. She wanted her Duel Disk and her virtual monsters back, if only so she could feel like she could defend herself again.

She knew it was daft and that Jou and Honda had her back and Anesan was there if she needed her. However she knew she would not feel safe again until she had it. She had also asked Jii-san's permission and gotten herself enrolled in self defence classes. She hated fighting. Absolutely hated it. However she was fed up of being manhandled and pushed around. Fighting to protect herself and her friends was different from fighting for no reason and she had absolutely no intention of letting someone hold her captive again.

_'Imoto, you should be sleeping.'_ Her older twin's sleepy voice echoed in her mind, causing Yugi to wince. Anesan had gone back to sleep on the agreement that she too would go back to bed and try to catch a couple of hours of sleep before the shop opened at eight.

_'I know, I'm sorry.'_ She apologised to the spirit of the Puzzle, who sent reassurance and concern down the bond.  _'But I can't sleep.'_

_'I can tell, your emotions are so turbulent it woke me up.'_ The spirit of the Puzzle emerged from her resting place and sat on the desk, watching her. For a moment Yugi was fascinated by the way the moonlight actually cast a light shadow of the older twin on the floor, then the Pharaoh's soft voice called,  _'Imoto...please, talk to me. I know there's something wrong. Is it just everything that happened last month or is it more?'_

_'It's...'_ Yugi hesitated, not wanting to make her sister feel bad. 

_'Imoto. Please.'_ Yugi sat up straight and stared at the Pharaoh at those words, stunned by her tone. Anesan did not beg. She never had. Yet here she was, pleading with her. 

_'It's...everything, I guess.'_ Yugi admitted with a sigh, looking down at the floor, her shoulders sinking,  _'I'm tired, Anesan. I haven't been able to sleep properly since Battle City, Anubis was...awful and now there's someone else after us. At Christmas. Which only makes it worse.'_

_'Why?'_ The bed did not move as the spirit of the Puzzle sat next to her, but Yugi could feel the light pressure of her sister's hand as the spectral sight of it moved into her line of vision and took her hand, squeezing gently.  _'What is it about Christmas you're not telling me?'_

_'Christmas...Christmas was when my parents left me with Jii-san.'_ Yugi admitted quietly, her free hand balling up as old anger and grief rose up in her,  _'They were fighting and five year old logic meant I tried to make them stop by showing Okaasan what I'd been making, some stupid little cookie decoration, it wasn't important but it was Christmas and I just wanted...'_

_'Imoto...'_ The Pharaoh started when Yugi trailed off but her sister shook her head, not finished yet.

_'Okaasan told me off for interfering in adult stuff and sent me to my room...I didn't listen, I went to find Jii-san. I heard them go out and...they never came back. I love Jii-san and I'm glad I wasn't in that car but...'_

Oneesan's eyes widened as she felt guilt mix in with the emotions flooding the bond.  _'You can't blame yourself.'_

_'I can and I do. Otosan never liked fighting with Okaasan in front of me, so he probably suggested they went to get the shopping to keep it out of the house and away from me...'_ Yugi looked at her sister and shook her head,  _'Jii-san's told me he doesn't blame me and he's given up everything to look after me so I know it's true but I know it's my fault they went out.'_

_'You were five.'_ The Pharaoh disagreed,  _'They were adults. Do you blame yourself now for when Ojiisan goes out?'_

_'No but...'_

_'It's the same thing.'_ Oneesan interrupted her,  _'You were a child. They were adults. They made the decision to take the arguing out of the house. You're not to blame.'_

Yugi stared at her as she worked through that logic in her head. The Pharaoh felt the guilt recede as it sunk in. Not gone entirely but far enough that her twin sister was thinking a bit clearer.  _'Even if that's true I don't want to lose anyone else. I can't. And now we have someone coming after us again and I'm afraid. I'm really afraid. Because every time someone comes after us, they take out their grievances on those close to us and...'_

The Pharaoh mentally winced as memories flashed through her light souled sister's mind, Kaiba causing Jii-san to have a heart attack, Bakura nearly killing their friends, Pegasus stealing Jii-san's soul, the Death Duel, Mai's Penalty, Jou's near death, Anubis's actions...

She could understand her twin's fear. It did not matter if this new threat really was aiming at Imoto or whether they were after her, her light souled sister was always at risk and she was terrified of losing the girl. It had nearly happened so many times already. If the guy that had approached Jou had been trying to lay a trap, the green stone Honda had showed her had shown her that they carried a magic that could mess with hers. It made her afraid because she did not trust that she could protect those who were most important to her. However Imoto was more important right now and the girl was exhausted. She needed her to be strong.

_'We'll win. We always win. It being Christmas won't change that.'_ Oneesan promised Yugi, her tone more certain than she felt,  _'But you need to try to rest. You're not going to be any good in the morning if you don't.'_

_'I can't sleep.'_ Yugi huffed and flopped back onto the bed,  _'My mind's racing.'_

_'You trust me, right?'_ The spirit of the Puzzle asked gently.

_'Always, Anesan.'_ The pure trust flooding over the bond made the Pharaoh smile as she slipped back into the Puzzle and steadily drew energy off of her light. Not enough to hurt her, but enough to make her too tired to stay awake. It did not take much. Her sister had not been joking when she said she had not been sleeping well recently. She did not have much energy to spare.

Once her twin was deeply asleep, she returned the stolen energy and slipped into her own doze, needing to recover her own energy.

She did not wake up until their alarm clock went off, inviting them to get up and greet the day. Her sister was still fast asleep so Oneesan emerged from the Puzzle, taking control of the lethargic body to start the morning routine. She knew it well enough to do so while letting her precious sister get some well deserved rest and she waved at Jou as she passed his room on the way to the bathroom.

“'Neesan?” She paused at his call, sticking her head in his door and trying to ignore that he had no shirt on as he asked, “Yuge still asleep?”

“Yeah, she needs the sleep.” Oneesan shrugged, “You okay?”

“Yeah, but I kind of need your help.” Jou nodded, looking hopeful. “And I don't want Yuge to know. Not yet.”

“What with?” He had peeked her curiosity and she leant against the door frame, watching him.

“Anzu, Honda and I have a surprise planned for Yuge.” Jou shared, noting that the Pharaoh's body posture was not as relaxed as she was aiming for, suggesting the meeting about Valon had bothered the pair of them. “After store closes Christmas Eve.”

He saw her pause to think about that, a little relief on her features showing that she too thought that Yugi needed something to take her mind off of her current stress. “Okay, how can I help? I'm not going to be able to provide extra hands.”

“No but we want to get Yuge into town without her knowing or worrying, can you help?” Jou grinned at her brightly.

“That I can do.” The Pharaoh asked, happy there was something that she could do towards it. It would not take much. All she would have to do was suggest that Imoto took a nap while she picked up Christmas presents for the family out of the money Jii-san put aside for her. “What's the surprise? Actually don't tell me, if I'm too tired I won't be able to hide it from Imoto. Just tell me where you want her to be and when.”

Jou was stunned. The Pharaoh was super protective of her twin sister but here she was, trusting them to plan this big surprise and take Yuge out somewhere when there was a potential threat incoming without knowing anything in advance. He had known she trusted them, but he had not realised quite how much. “Fountain Plaza, 5pm Christmas Eve.”

The spirit of Puzzle paused to consider that. The store was due to close at one that day. That gave her plenty of time to go out, do her shopping and still get to the plaza in time for whatever the others were planning. “No problem. Now do you need the bathroom? Because I don't get to shower often and I plan on enjoying it.”

Jou sniggered and darted for the bathroom. The Pharaoh rolled her eyes and followed him, waiting outside the bathroom until he was done. There was something refreshing about the feel of water raining down on her. Probably because back in Egypt rain had been a blessing from the Gods according to the research that Imoto had done. Showers had definitely not been invented back then and while there probably had been baths, they certainly had not been like the one in their bathroom where she could get water from taps.

Once Jou was done hogging the bathroom, Oneesan slipped inside and turned on the shower, allowing it to reach the perfect temperature as she navigated the trick that was getting undressed without taking off the Puzzle. It was never easy but stepping under the warm, fresh rainfall was heavenly and totally worth it.

Imoto finally started stirring as Oneesan was washing the conditioner out of their hair and the Pharaoh chuckled at her sister's sleepy,  _'Morning Anesan, what did Jou coat us in this time?'_

_'Nothing Imoto, I think I taught him not to try and prank us after the flour mess.'_ The Pharaoh replied, contemplating the texture of their hair and putting a second batch of conditioner in, as relief fissioned across the link. Both Mutou twins remembered the prank from a couple of weeks ago far too well and neither particularly wanted to have to spend several hours getting flour out of their hair again.  _'I just wanted a shower. Hope you don't mind.'_

_'Of course not, enjoy.'_ The spirit of the Puzzle smiled slightly at the way Yugi did not push for control, letting her relax under the running water.

She needed this as much as her twin needed her quiet nights of gaming or working on their deck. They were both under a lot of stress and it would have driven them both quite mad if they did not take small moments like this to themselves. She felt much better as she ran her hands through her hair and rinsed out the second batch of conditioner. As she stepped out of the shower, she contemplated soaking in the bath and decided against it. She could smell someone trying to make breakfast which did not always end well unless Imoto was there to supervise.

Yugi took control to get dry, dressed and tie her hair up in a messy ponytail that left her blonde bangs hanging loose around her face, before she headed down to check on the cook. Today it was Jii-san, who grinned as he slid her a bacon sandwich.

“Bacon!” Yugi's delighted squeal made her grandfather grin. They did not buy it very often. Not because they did not like it but because it was an unnecessary expense but he had wanted to treat her and her delight was well worth the extra cost. She tucked into the sandwich, savouring the flavour as Sugoroku sat next to her.

“I've got one of the students to start at eleven.” He told Yugi, who watched him over the top of her bread, “So if you can help me until then, that would be helpful. It is the second busiest day of the year after all.”

“Sure. Honda's coming over at half eleven to go with me to the exhibition match so that works out nicely.” Yugi shrugged, suddenly really glad that she had been up early this morning to sort her deck out. She loved her grandfather dearly but she had half seen this coming. In order of importance it was family, shop, and then everything else. Her title and duelling came under 'everything else' and she was fully aware of it.

She did not really mind. While the prize money from tournaments was great, she could not rely on it. The money the shop took in was almost always there and paid the bills. It just meant that she had to do her prep around her shop work, just like she had this morning.

“You're on till duty. Easiest job in the shop.” Jii-san continued, pointing to the stool he had set up next to the counter for her. “Jou will sweep and I'll tidy. You count the cash in the draw for me.”

“Jii-san...” Yugi tried to protest, aware her grandfather's back had been sore the day before.

“Count. Now.” Jii-san's tone was scolding but the grin on his face told her he was not really mad.

She chuckled and took her seat, counting through the change happily. She knew her Jii-san cared and it was little things like this that showed it. Giving her till duty and setting her up somewhere to sit was his way of showing he had her back and wanted her to win later. She would be less tired if she was not on her feet all morning and the monotony of till duty would allow her to be fresh mentally.

_'Jii-san is great.'_ She could feel the happiness that accompanied her older twin's words and grinned.

_'Yeah, we're really lucky.'_ Yugi fully believed that too. While she did miss her parents occasionally, especially this time of year, it was things like this that reminded her of how good she had it. Jii-san had always been there for her. Even when he had discovered she was regularly possessed by the spirit of the Puzzle he had not freaked out. Instead he had just started putting an allowance aside for the Pharaoh and taken her on as his granddaughter. 

She was bloody lucky that he had taken her in and she was insanely fortunate that he had been through enough weirdness that the insanity of the last year had not caused him to kick her out. She did not know many adults who would keep her in their home if they had had their soul stolen because of her.

Yugi slipped the cash drawer into the till, passing on the figures to her grandfather as she did so. She was not certain that there was enough change in the drawer but there was always more in the safe, just in case and as the store opened she was pleased to see that most of the transactions were by card. They always had to pay a small fee to the bank for each card payment, but the money went straight into the shop account, instead of them having to walk it to the bank, like they did the cash. Plus it was quicker than cash payments, where she had to ensure correct change before she could send the customer on their way.

“Excuse me but I gave you a five hundred yen coin.” It also prevented issues like this from occurring, Yugi mentally huffed. She knew what he had given her, four one hundred yen coins, not one big five hundred yen coin. She still had one hand on the cash in the drawer.

“No, you didn't.” Yugi sighed, refusing to be one hundred and fifty yen short as she held up the coins in question, “Your total came to three hundred and fifty yen, you gave me four. I gave you fifty yen in return.”

The man scowled and the volume of his voice rose as he snapped out, “You're just trying to steal money from me.”

“I would not damage my reputation or the reputation of my store over one hundred and fifty yen, Sir.” Yugi kept her tone level and calm, refusing to rise to the bait and get into an argument with the man. “That wouldn't even cover one booster pack.”

“Then give me my change.” He snarled, slamming his hand on the counter which shook from the impact.

“I have given you your change. Please move along.” It was hard to maintain an appearance of calm when someone was yelling in your face, but she had mastered it a long time ago and it had been incredibly useful for disappointing bullies and bad guys who had wanted to get a rise out of her.

“I'll move along when I...” As he leaned forward, fist raised, threatening Yugi, her Oneesan slipped into control and stared at him coldly, irritated with him and his nonsense. He huffed and snatched up the dice pack he had bought, going to fling it back at her when he heard the noise of a coin hitting the floor. He went to pick it up, only to look embarrassed when it revealed the five hundred Yen coin that he had been shouting about.

“Have a good day.” The spirit of the Puzzle could sense her light's amusement and eye roll as her tone turned the polite statement into a 'piss off'. The man did not seem to notice, fleeing the store, blushing bright red in his embarrassment.

The slightly sharp look she got from her grandfather for her tone was totally worth it as the next customer moved into place and quickly made a card payment, “I feel sorry for you dear, do you get that often?”

“Mistakes happen. As long as it's resolved it's fine.” Yugi smiled as she took over, trying not the show the amusement she felt at her twin's desire to hide from the crazy Christmas crowd unless she was needed. “He's not the worst customer I've had this week, believe me.”

“Well I hope the week gets better for you.” The woman gave her a sympathetic look and headed out.

The woman behind her made Yugi laugh as she grumbled. “She clearly doesn't work retail.”

“Probably not, but at least she was nice.” Yugi shrugged with a smile.

“That's rare enough this time of year.” Her customer allowed, looking as fed up with the season as Yugi felt. “Can I get two 'Dragon Den' boosters and I need to collect my 'Chaos Core' structure deck.”

“Do you have your reservation receipt?” Yugi asked as she pulled out the black pre-order booklet from underneath the till, “And can I have your name please?”

“My name is Kinomoto Ai.” The woman informed her as she fished around in her bag and pulled out the battered and bent receipt and offered it to her. “Here you go.”

“Thank you.” The store owner cross checked the name against the number on the reservation receipt and gave Kinomoto a small smile as she nodded, “Got you just here.” She tapped the book, before leaning into the stock room and grabbing a deck out of the box next to the door.

The relief on the fellow shop worker's face was plain to see as Yugi rung her purchases up. “Thank you. I was worried it wouldn't still be here.”

“We hold for a week.” She reassured her, “Because we understand that sometimes work gets in the way of life.”

“And that's why I shop here rather than The Monster Hut.” Kinomoto nodded happily. Yugi tried not to grimace at the name of the rival game store. It was half way across the city at least but they had stolen an awful amount of their trade when Jii-san had been in hospital for his heart attack and while most of it had come back, it had been hard for them for a while. That was business though and Yugi could not be mad at The Monster Hut for taking advantage of a rival's weakness.

_'We are the better store though.'_ Yugi mentally giggled at her twin's boast over their bond and as she bowed and started serving the next customer Oneesan continued with,  _'Plus we weren't set up by Card Thieves.'_

_'There's no proof they were set up by the Ghouls.'_ Yugi mentally rolled her eyes as she worked her way through the queue, thankful that the day after tomorrow was Christmas Eve and the whole madness was nearly over.  _'They could have been infiltrated. They wouldn't have been the only ones.'_

Oneesan did not have a reply to that, fully aware that the Ghouls and those who led them had been rather good at getting into places that they should not be. The whole Ishtar fiasco had been hard because of it.

Yugi was glad when the student got in. The girl was only there during the holidays, since she was away studying during the term time, but her presence now allowed them to thin the horde a little better. She could get on the till while Yugi helped Jii-san ensure the door was clear at all times so people could get in and out.

They needed to expand the shop floor to keep up with the customer load. Yugi was fully aware of that, but the only way to do so would be to knock through the wall to the store room, start storing the extra stock in the basement and redesign the shop floor to fit in the new space. It was something both she and Ojiisan wanted to do, but they just did not have the money for it.

Not yet anyway. Yugi was saving up her prize money from various tournaments in order to put it towards the refit. It was not much at a time, a few hundred yen here, a few thousand there but she was doing her best and she had amassed around fifty thousand already thanks to the prize money from Battle City. If yen were dollars or pounds which were much stronger currencies she would have it together already but it was not, so there was still a ways to go. Jii-san had no idea but she was looking forward to revealing it to him.

“Yoh, Yugi!” Honda called her on his arrival, his voice carrying over that of the customer she was just pointing towards the till. She finished up with them then skirted around the crowd to the door to reach her friend, both surprised and unsurprised that time had gone so quickly.

“Hi Honda. Welcome to chaos.” She grinned, relieved to see him. “Come around the back way with me? It's near impossible to get to the stairs that way.”

When he nodded Yugi called over the crowd to her grandfather, who looked surprised and glanced at the clock, then nodded and waved the pair off, having lost track of the time as badly as Yugi had.

She led Honda out and around the back, to the door that led straight up to the flat, needing to grab her purse before they headed out, only to find it was wide open and the lock had been broken. Honda pulled her behind him and darted up the stairs first.

_'Imoto...'_ Oneesan did not need to say any more as Yugi gave way to her, allowing her to take control and follow the boy up. The last thing they needed right now was a thief. While the insurance would pay for it, the premiums would increase again, as they had after Hirutani's break in. The spirit of the Puzzle was as glad as Yugi that their small horde of money was not in the flat, but hoped that the thief had not managed to get into the shop safe as she rushed up the stairs, able to hear the sounds of a fight going on. 

As she reached the living room she was treated to the sight of Honda pinning a rough looking teen and a bag on the floor that contained the games consoles that Imoto and Jonouchi had saved their allowances for.

“Get off, you...” The teen trailed off when he saw Oneesan stalk across the room and pick up the phone. “Hey now, no need for that.”

“There really is.” The spirit of the Puzzle disagreed as she dialed 119 to call the police. “You broke into the flat when we would all be busy downstairs with the shop to steal our stuff. How many other people have you stolen from?”

The boy did not answer her and the Pharaoh huffed as she gave the telephone operator all the details. She wanted to handle him herself, but she knew she was not supposed to in the shop and they really did not have time for her to hunt him down later. Still she was promised that they would be there in ten minutes so she might, possibly still be on time for her match.

_'We should text Mokuba and let him know what's going on. Then we need to tell Jii-san.'_ Yugi sighed, fully aware that they did not need this right now. Today was too busy for all of them to be wasting it on some idiot.

She fired off the text message, not yet willing to leave her younger twin in control. While Honda seemed to have the situation under control, there was no guarantee that it would stay that way. Then she darted down the shop stairs and waved Jii-san over.

“I thought you'd be gone by now.” He frowned in confusion, “You okay? Has the match been cancelled?”

“No, but we've got a thief upstairs.” She explained with a slight huff, “I've called the police but he broke the lock on the door to the flat and was trying to make off with the games consoles.”

Jii-san scowled at that. “Fantastic. I'll get Jou to send them around the back way. Call a locksmith for me? We've got enough cash in right now we can pay for the repair.”

“Will do.” Oneesan promised the elderly gamer. “Do you want me to cancel the match?”

“No, no, but if Honda could stay and watch the flat until the locksmith gets there, that would be appreciated.” His response made her pause.

She nodded and headed back up, relieved to see that the status quo had not changed while she had been downstairs.

“Jii-san says can you watch the shop until a locksmith gets here to fix the door?” She asked Honda as she flipped through the phone book to find the number of a local locksmith.

“Sure but are you going to be alright going by yourself?” He worried at her, aware of the things Kaiba could get up to and wanting to have her back.

“Have to be.” She shrugged, finding the number she was looking for. “Jou's needed downstairs, Anzu's busy and Jii-san needs you here. I'd ask Amane but I have absolutely no idea what she's up to and Bakura would probably take horrible advantage of this situation somehow.”

Honda could not deny it as she spoke to the man who picked up the phone. He promised to be there by mid-afternoon just as her phone beeped with Mokuba's reply to her earlier text message. That, at least, was reassuring. They could hold off on the match for an extra hour if she needed it and Mokuba would send a car around to collect her so she did not have to walk. Though how much of that one was him not wanting her to have to walk in the Christmas crush and how much was him wanting her to get there faster so his brother did not get cross was another question entirely.

The sounds of people coming up the stairs startled them both, allowing the thief to buck Honda off and lunge for the door down to the shop. Oneesan moved into his path, blocking his exit. Or at least she thought it would, but he took a swing at her, one she ducked under as she dropped to the floor and swept his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor and allowing the police to grab him.

“Nice move.” Honda nodded to her as the police started taking photos and collecting evidence.

“Learned it from you and Jou.” Oneesan smirked back, noting that he stood a little taller at that.

She gave her statement and then quickly darted up to her bedroom, needing to prepare for the match ahead. It did not take her long to get ready, she and Imoto had practised with their make up enough that it took her ten minutes to apply, and after that all she had to do was switch her trousers and shoes and she was ready before she heard the sounds of a car horn outside. Poking her head out the window confirmed that there was a limo there to pick her up and Oneesan grabbed their purse on her way out.

_'Here we go.'_ Imoto sounded as excited as Oneesan felt as she darted for the back door, noting that the police had already left, taking the thief with them, leaving Honda to set the games consoles back up and check to make sure the impact with the floor had not broken them.

“Hey Yugi,” Honda's call made her pause as the sounds of one of the consoles booting up played, “Good luck.”

“I'll be back with the win,” Oneesan promised as she turned towards the door, “just you wait.”

 


	5. 2 Days Remaining

The roar of the crowd as Ra's attack struck home, destroying Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon in a raging inferno, was deafening and Oneesan smiled with pride at the irritation on her opponent's face as his life points hit zero.

The new holograms were so realistic that for a moment Oneesan had almost thought they were summoning the real things. Duelists were going to freak out when their Duel Disks updated to the newest images. Imoto already had, mentally bouncing and dancing over how cool they looked and acted. It had been a little distracting until she had settled down to watch the duel.

“Good game, Kaiba.” The spirit of the Puzzle nodded to her rival who snorted as the first snowflakes of the season started to fall through the open roof of the fixed and now fully opened Duel Dome.

“I'm just waiting for the next tournament so I can crush you in the appropriate setting.” He nodded back, ignoring the amused smirk on her face.

He would beat her eventually. It was just a matter of time until he found the right combination of cards. However he did feel better for having pitted himself against a real challenge. Kaiba Corp was his and he enjoyed the work but duelling was his passion and there were very few people in the world that could give him a real match. Getting out on the duelling field after the massively stressful Christmas release season felt good, especially when this was his last public event of the year and it had been the jewel on his spectacular opening ceremony.

It looked like she had needed it too. As he watched Oneesan step off the platform and talk with his brother, her body language was much more relaxed then it had been when she had entered the arena. He was not sure if it was because of the thief Mokuba had informed him about earlier or whether there was more going on but he could not help that be pleased that his rival enjoyed duelling him.

Oneesan followed Mokuba out of the main arena before switching with her twin who grinned at Mokuba. “Those new holograms? They're amazing.”

“You think so?” Mokuba asked, pleased she thought so as he passed her one of the bottles of water a guard had been holding onto for him, well aware that his brother was sometimes parched after public speaking and having been prepared to provide in case Yugi had needed a drink.

“The realism is awesome, you can even touch the monsters now.” Yugi agreed, bouncing slightly as she twisted the already loose cap off and chugged half the bottle, grimacing slightly at the taste, “And while I wish your brother would turn up the safeties, am I right that he's done something to protect Duelists during direct attacks?”

“The improved definition will be in both versions of the Duel Disk. However the solidness and any potential protections are 2.0 only.” Mokuba's smile told her that he was just as proud of the tech as his brother. “How does it feel on your arm?”

“Lighter and the cuff is more comfortable.” She twisted her arm so she could look at the attachment, “New padding?”

“New padding.” The younger Kaiba agreed, “That one's yours by the way. We've already uploaded your Duellist Network I.D. to it.”

“Thanks.” She grinned as she finished off the drink and balanced the empty bottle on a railing so she could take a boxed model from Mokuba, slipping it under her arm so it did not collide with the one on her left side.

“No need to thank me, we owed you a Duel Disk.” He shrugged, “I promised you them for coming today. I'm assuming that one's for Jou?”

“Yeap. Not that he knows yet. It's going under the Christmas tree.” Yugi chuckled, trying to ignore the fact the severe lack of sleep overnight was beginning to catch up to her. “I'd have duelled without the incentive though.”

Mokuba shrugged, fully aware that while it was probably true, the Duel Dome held bad memories for the World Champion Duellist and he had not wanted her to decline the invitation. “You need a lift home?”

“Please? I don't want anyone stealing Jou's present.” She shrugged, then squeaked as she nearly dropped the Duel Disk. That briefly ended the conversation as the younger Kaiba brother caught the box before it could hit the floor. “Thanks.”

“You're welcome. I'll sort you out a car.” He frowned, worried. She looked tired but even so it was not like Yugi to be clumsy, even on very little sleep. He had seen her sleep deprived before and her current behaviour was not normal. “You sure you don't need to be checked out? We have a doctor on site.”

“I'm okay.” The girl sighed as they headed for the entrance to the Duel Dome, “I just...keep your eyes open for anyone carrying a glowing green stone?”

“Magic incoming?” The younger Kaiba asked, mentally listing things he might need to have prepared if it was.

“Someone's gunning for me and Jou was approached by a biker with a glowing green gem that messes with Shadow magic. He said he was on our side but he also wouldn't give Jou details so we don't know if he's telling the truth.” The Puzzle barer nodded, “I don't know if they'll come and harass you guys but...”

“We generally get caught up in your mess, no offence meant.” He could not help but be amused by the easy shrug his comment caused. Yugi could not deny the facts after all. “Come on, I'll walk you to the car while Seto's doing the press conference.”

Yugi would have protested, suspecting that he would have preferred to be there with his brother, but she was shattered and did not know if she would find her way out of the building. Instead she followed the younger Kaiba down to the entrance, where a limo was waiting for her. The silver KC emblem glinted on the hood in the light of the setting sun and she grinned at Mokuba, “Thanks.”

“Who said I was doing this for you.” Mokuba smirked back, his tone teasing as the driver stepped out of the car and opened the door for Yugi, “Last thing I want is you walking across town with two pieces of expensive equipment in the dark. Who knows who would jump you. I just don't want to have to clean up any crazy thieves Oneesan leaves behind.”

“She's not done that in almost a year.” She ruefully smiled, defending her older twin as she slid into the car, put Jou's Duel Disk down safely on the seat and took off the equipment on her own arm so she could do her seatbelt up.

“And the longer we can put it off, the better.” His matter of fact tone made Yugi giggle as the driver shut the door. Mokuba paused to watch the man for a moment, trying work out why he did not recognise the driver. He knew most of the KC Chauffeurs by name, since most of them had taken him to school at one point or another. However there had been a bunch of new hires he had not met yet across multiple divisions. This could have been one of them.

The sound of his phone ringing distracted him and as he went to answer it, the driver slipped back through his door and started the engine, leaving Mokuba with no time to ask questions before he was pulling away from the curb.

 _'I get zero respect.'_ Oneesan grumbled, mostly joking as Yugi leaned back, impressed with how soft the head rest was.

 _'You know...Mokuba likes you really.'_ She comforted her twin, closing her eyes as they got halfway out the car park. The adrenaline from the duel had worn off completely and she was so tired that she just wanted to sleep the entire way home.

 _'Imoto?'_ She felt the Pharaoh pause, suddenly concerned, _'Are you alright?'_

 _'Just tired.'_ She sent reassurance as she felt the odd disconnect of mind and body that normally came just before she fell asleep, _'I barely slept...last night...or for the last month...'_

Guilt pulsed down the bond from her sister as she mentally sat back, _'Once we get home, you're going to bed.'_

 _'Yes Anes...'_ Before she could finish her thought, she had fallen asleep.


	6. 1.8 Days Remaining

Jou grimaced as he checked his phone and noticed that midnight had come and gone and there was still no news.

The opening ceremony of Kaiba's Duel Dome had ended over nine hours ago, however Yugi had yet to return home. They had tried to ring her mobile phone but it had gone to answer machine every single time they had called. It was not normal for Yugi to be out of contact. She never missed a phone call unless she was in a duel or in class.

Something was wrong.

Honda had been on the phone to Mokuba at one point but the younger of the Kaiba brothers had not been particularly helpful. He had sent Yugi back to the shop in one of the Kaiba Corp limos. If she had not gotten from the limo to the shop door, that was not his fault.

Jou had combed the local area for his friend, in case she had been jumped outside the store and been hurt, but there was no sign of her. In fact no one he had asked had seen a KC limo since she had left the store around midday.

He had a horrible feeling he knew what had happened.

The jerks Valon had warned him about had caused a crash or grabbed Yugi off the street somehow and now his friend was in trouble and he had no idea where she was or if she was hurt.

He flicked through his contact list and hesitated with his thumb over one particular number.

If he hit the call button he would probably end up having to make a deal with Valon's boss in order to get his help. If he did not and Yugi was hurt, he would not be able to forgive himself.

That was if Valon and his boss were not in on whatever the hell was going on with his best friend. There was every chance that by phoning them to agree to a deal he would be walking into a trap of some kind.

But it was Yugi. His best friend. She had been through so many death traps and risked her life and soul so many times for his sake that he would be doing her a massive disservice if he did not at least try.

He took a deep breath and hit the call button. It only rang twice before an Australian accent answered on the other end, “Jonouchi?”

“Hey...look, I might be interested in a deal but I need your help first.” Jou sighed, “Yuge's missing and I need to find her.”

There was a long pause on the other end, then Valon's voice sounded sharp and worried, “Your girl's missing?”

His tone helped Jou relax. If he had been in on it, then Valon would not be worried. “Yeah, didn't come back from her exhibition match. She's unreachable so I think she got grabbed, possibly by the jerks you warned me about.”

“Maybe...I've got some contacts I can ask.” The biker sounded thoughtful, “I can meet up with you at the shop in about ten minutes and if I've got any information, I'll share it then.”

“Thanks man.” Jou was honest in his gratitude.

“Heh, thank me if we can find your girl.” With that Valon ended the call and Jou turned for the shop, wondering what he was getting himself into by asking for help.

* * *

Mokuba scowled as his phone started buzzing again.

He had told Honda he would ring him if he had any more information on what had happened to Yugi and right now he had nothing more to give him.

He was annoyed at himself more than Honda though. He had thought something was off with Yugi when he had sent her away but he had made the mistake of thinking that sending her home by car would ensure her safety. He had not anticipated the usual driver of that particular KC limo being out sick and replaced by someone who had wished the girl harm.

To be fair to Honda the call might be to say he was outside. The moment he had reported Yugi was missing Mokuba had asked him to come in. Honda had, understandably refused, but agreed to come in if he and Jou had not managed to make headway by midnight.

“Answer your phone, Mokuba.” The older Kaiba's irritated huff made him wince. Seto was just as irritable about the whole mess as he was. The limo that Yugi had gone missing in was registered to Kaiba Corp. That same limo had turned up in the aquaduct on the other side of town from the Duel Dome with Yugi's phone inside it. Mokuba had been mad at himself for being stupid enough to send his brother's greatest rival with a driver he had not recognised or done a background check on before that little piece of news had come in and now he was mad at the fake driver. The limos cost money and if Yugi did not have her phone, it took out one tracking method which had probably been the point.

Just to make things worse, the guard who had been carrying the water for him had vanished just after the limo had left. Mokuba had gotten both the bottle Yugi had left behind and the one he had nearly given to Seto tested after he had gotten the call. Someone had mixed potent sleeping pills into the water, meaning he had been the one to hand Yugi a drugged drink.

He felt like such an idiot.

Seto meanwhile was scowling at his screen. For all the time and money he put into security around his stadiums. For all the checks he did on his staff to ensure his brother's safety. For all the control he had over Domino City since he owned the damn land it was built on, two goons had been able to infiltrate his staff, kidnap his rival and just vanish off the map.

It both impressed and infuriated him that they had managed to drug and steal Yugi out from under his nose. Especially considering that it was a cleaner kidnapping than some of the ones he had arranged when he had been less sane. As Mokuba answered the phone and called down security to let Honda into the building before going to meet his sometimes bodyguard at the lift, he did another search of the Kaiba Corp network to see if Yugi's Duel Disk had activated yet.

He knew Yugi, it was only a matter of time before it happened. She relied on her Duel Disk to get her out of trouble. It was too useful a tool and made her summoning easier, though he would forever deny that it was meant to if she asked. No matter where she was being held, she would eventually get her hands on her deck and her Duel Disk and then they would be able to track her.

It was questionable if the people who had taken her would be alive or sane by the time they reached her but Kaiba found himself disinclined to care one way or the other. It would be self defence and completely justified.

She just needed to hurry up and activate the damn tech.

He was not worried. He was not. It was not like he could not find another Duellist to take her place. He was simply concerned for a friend of his brother. That was all. He did not care one way or the other if they found her or not.

That was what he kept telling himself.

It was a lie and he knew it.

* * *

“Hey.”

Jou moved away from the wall where he had been doing final checks on his v1 Duel Disk as Valon started to dismount. “You get any news?”

“Yeah.” The Australian nodded, taking off his helmet. “You were right to call. Your girl's been taken by the chick I warned you about.”

Jou grimaced, trying to remember if Valon had mentioned a gender the last time he had spoken to him. He could not remember though. “Do I get a name now?”

“Are you going to help us deal with her?” The biker asked in return, his tone sharp.

“If she's hurt Yuge, then yeah.” Jou nodded, ready to punch the cow that had had Yugi kidnapped.

Valon snorted, “You know her. The Thief Queen.”

“Wait Bakura?” Jou paused, confused.

“Yeah, she's in an abandoned bar across town. I can get you there.” The biker offered, offering him a spare helmet.

Jou considered it for a moment. Bakura was a viable option for whoever had grabbed Yugi. They had tried to ring her but they had not been able to get through too. With the enmity between the spirit of the Millennium Ring and Oneesan, it would not be entirely surprising for the Thief Queen to jump Yugi while she was tired and not suspecting it.

“Oh, you might need this.” His train of thoughts was derailed by Valon putting the helmet down and offering him a Duel Monsters card.

He took it, his eyes widening at the sight of a green magical circle of some kind. It was a field spell card called 'The Seal of Orichelcos' and he could feel the magic in the card just from touching it.

“What does it do?” He asked with a frown as he considered whether to slip it into his deck or not.

“If you use it, it'll negate Shadow Magic. It'll give you some protection from her powers.” Valon offered, then frowned, “Where's the pendant I gave you?”

“My friend picked it up when we went swimming.” Jou shrugged, “I was going to get it back tomorrow.”

“Here.” Valon chucked him a second stone, one unattached to anything. “You'll need that to activate the Seal.”

“Thanks. Shall we go find Bakura?” He asked, slipping both the card and the stone into his pocket. At his question Valon tossed him the spare helmet and patted the back of his bike.

“Let's go.”

* * *

“...enough for someone twice her height, no wonder she's...”

Yugi could not focus on the voices enough to hear all of what they were saying.

“...the one who gave me...”

Something was wrong. She was led on something hard, there was something cold around her left ankle, her body would not respond, she was having trouble staying awake and her mind was so hazy that she was having trouble connecting to Oneesan. The problem was she could not think cohesively enough to put all those points together.

“...can't duel if...”

She could feel the worry and anger of her darker self which was not helping. It meant she was right. Something was wrong but she could not move or even open her eyes to find out what.

“...a couple more hours and she should be...”

Fighting the haze was exhausting and Yugi mentally reached out for help, hoping her sister would respond, even with her mind so messed up.

 _'...here...'_ There was more, she was fully aware there was more but she could not concentrate enough to hear it. Still even the one word reply was reassuring. She was not alone.

Reassurance flooded down the bond, then there was a brief pause and she felt a yank and she found herself in her twin's arms in the corridor between her Soul Room and Oneesan's. The moment she was no longer in the body her mind started to clear up, like the problem was physical rather than mental or magical. Her eyes widened as she straightened slightly and turned to look at the spirit of the Puzzle, realisation striking her. “We've been drugged?”

“Looks like it. Probably something in the water.” Oneesan nodded sharply. Yugi could sense both the relief that hit the Pharaoh when she started to mentally wake up and the anger aimed at whoever had dosed them.

“Mokuba wouldn't be in on this.” Yugi pointed out. “He just rings if Kaiba wants to duel now.”

“I'll see if I can find out who's grabbed us and where we are.” The spirit agreed with her sister's thoughts. “Will you be okay if I go ghost for a bit?”

“I'll be fine. It's not like I can go anywhere, the body's completely useless right now.” The brighter soul grimaced slightly, “I thought I heard something about 'twice my height' so it's possible they overdosed me. Maybe the bottle they gave me was for Kaiba?”

“Possibly.” The darker sister grimaced, “We can worry about it after we've gotten home.”

“Or once we get far enough away that I can risk phoning them.” Yugi nodded, trusting her dark to help her get away safely. “While you're out spying, I'll try and get the body moving.”

Oneesan hugged her briefly, proud of her light for acting so calm despite the nervousness and worry she could sense under the surface, then emerged from the Puzzle.

It looked like they had been taken to a warehouse. One that was full of Kaiba Corp boxes. Whoever had kidnapped them had clearly been going out of their way to lay the blame on the Kaibas. It would have worked too if they had not known the brothers better than that. If it was Kaiba or Mokuba kidnapping them they would have at least been given a soft bed. They had done so before after all.

Instead her twin was led on the floor. She knelt down to check on her and was pleased to find that while she was breathing a little shallower and slower than Oneesan would have liked, suggesting that she was still pretty heavily sedated, she was otherwise unharmed. Not that she could have gone anywhere if she had woken. The cold around her ankle was cuff from a set of handcuffs, the other end of which was attached to an exposed pipe in the floor.

Their bag was missing, which meant their phone and purse were gone. The two Duel Disks were gone too, which Imoto was not going to be happy about and to make things even worse, their deck was no longer in their deck holster.

 _'Imoto? Can you still hear me?'_ She asked gently.

 _'Yeah, the body fell asleep again while we were talking so I'm staying in the corridor until I can get it to respond.'_ Imoto sounded exasperated as the Pharaoh sent along everything she knew so far. _'Mind if I synch up?'_

 _'Never.'_ The Pharaoh paused as she felt the slightly disconcerting feeling of another connecting to her senses, then stood and headed for the voices coming from a room off to the side.

“Yes, I have her.” The spirit of the Puzzle heard as she slipped into the room, watching a hooded man as he paced back and forth, talking to someone on a phone. “No I didn't feel the need to tell...I don't answer to you, that's why.”

Her deck was spread across the table and her bag lay on the floor, emptied of its contents. Her Duel Disk was on one of the chairs, while the box for Jou's lay ripped open and empty under the table. She could not see her phone but her purse was still there at least, though it lay half under a chair.

“Yes, he's already halfway to our Lord with the God cards.” Her head snapped towards the kidnapper when he spoke those words, “And we'll have the Pharaoh's soul by dawn.”

 _'Anesan. You might want to stay back once we wake up.'_ Her light soulled sister worried at her.

 _'No way. If they want a soul, I'm not risking yours when mine's the one they want.'_ The Pharaoh disagreed. _'I'm more concerned that they know about me.'_

Oneesan stepped aside as the man turned to enter the main room, her hands balling into fists as he moved towards their body. _'If he hurts you...'_

She felt Imoto disconnect from her senses and return to the body as he approached and tilted their chin so he could get a proper look at their face. “Are you sure this is the one? I thought the boss said the Pharaoh was a man?”

Before he could say anything else his other hand brushed the Millennium Puzzle and Oneesan silently thanked the Gods for the burst of energy that sent shooting through her twin's system as Yugi's eyes half opened and her hand weakly batted his away. “Mine.”

“I'll call you back.” The kidnapper's smirk was not reassuring as he put the phone down. “Finally awake are you, Pharaoh?”

Oneesan took control, glaring at the man and mentally grimacing as she realised that it was literally only the power from the Puzzle that was keeping her awake right now. “What do you want from me?”

“Directly? Your soul. Indirectly, you're excellent bait for the other souls we need. Gamers do so love to rescue Princesses after all.” He backed off as she unsteadily pushed herself to her feet, “Other than that, we've already taken what we need from you.”

“Give me my deck back. Now.” She scowled, wincing slightly as the cuff cut into her ankle when she accidentally tugged on the short chain keeping her in place, wishing she could trust that she could concentrate long enough to just use magic to get out of the situation.

“Oh I intend to, Pharaoh.” He chuckled as he watched her fight her body's desire to collapse again, “But do you really intend to fight me in that state? You'll damage your vessel.”

 _'If we don't fight now and get ourselves free, you just know Jou will come looking.'_ Yugi sounded ill amused, _'We don't know how long we've been out. He could be looking already. I don't want Jou hurt for our sake. Not again.'_

Oneesan was in full agreement with her. “What's the matter? Afraid you can't beat me?”

“Don't challenge me, Pharaoh. I wield greater magics then you do.” He glowered at her, his green gem pendant glowing in response to his anger.

“I doubt it considering you weren't brave enough to challenge me without drugging me firs...” Though the smack that earned her knocked her down, it was worth it as the pain woke her up a little and gave her something other than the tiredness to focus on.

Before her world had stopped spinning from the strike the kidnapper slid her Duel Disk along the floor to her and tossed her deck at her.

She picked up the cards, grimacing when she realised she only had a 37 card deck but she staggered back to her feet, refusing to duel this jerk on her knees.

A thought struck her as she activated her Duel Disk. If the new ones worked like the old ones, then the Kaibas were going to know where she was the moment her Duel Disk connected to their network.

She was not sure if that was a good thing or not as she drew her opening hand.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is set a little ways down the line, after both Battle for the Gods (Battle City) and False Light (Pyramid of Light), neither of which are posted yet, but I couldn't resist writing it after reading one too many fics where Christmas is this nice easy time for the shop...that's not how retail works...


End file.
